''VEF Riga'' through to ''Top 16'' of ULEB Eurocup

Kristaps Janicenoks (R). Photo: Ieva Čika/LETA.

LE MANS (France), Dec 13 - On Wednesday, Latvian basketball club ''VEF Riga'' defeated French basketball club Le Mans ''Sarthe Basket'' 69:67 in a thriller to book its place in the ''Top 16'' of this season's ULEB Eurocup tournament.
The highest scorer for the Latvian club was Kristaps Janicenoks with 18 points, followed by Earl Rowland and Dairis Bertans with 12 points a piece.
Khalid El-Amin was the top scored for ''Sarthe Basket'' with 24 points and eight assists.
In the other Group C match yesterday, Russian basketball club Lyubertsy ''Triumph'' defeated German basketball club Artland ''Dragons'' 95:94.
''Triumph'' finished in first place in Group C with six wins and zero losses, followed by ''VEF Riga'' with three wins and three losses, ''Sarthe Basket'' in third with two wins and four losses, and ''Dragons'' in last with one win and five losses. The top two finishers in each of the group qualify for the tournament's ''Top 16''.
''VEF Riga'' will be in Group J in the tournament's next group stage together with Spanish basketball club ''Valencia'' and ''Bilbao Basket'', as well as Czech basketball club Nymburk CEZ.
The first and second place finishers of the four ''Top 16'' groups will qualify for the ULEB Eurocup's quarterfinals.leta.lv